Supreme Court in breakaway South Ossetia annulled the results of Sunday’s presidential runoff, which gave victory to an opposition candidate, and the legislative body of the parliament is now considering a proposal to hold repeat election.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a complaint filed by Anatoly Bibilov, the emergency situations minister, who lost the race for the region’s leadership to Alla Jioyeva, an opposition candidate, in the second round of election on November 27.
The Supreme Court’s decision means that Jioyeva may not have the right to run in the repeat election.
Chairman of the breakaway region’s Supreme Court, Atsamaz Bichenov, said that results of the second round were declared void because Jioyeva’s supporters resorted to “threatening” of voters, which “did not allow voters to freely make their choice.”
A local news agency, Res, run by the breakaway region’s government, reported that according to the law on presidential elections a candidate, whose actions let to holding of a repeat election, will no longer be able to run – the provision barring Jioyeva to participate in the repeat polls.
The same opinion was expressed by the Supreme Court's chairman, when he said, according to RIA Novosti news agency, that the ruling was not allowing Jioyeva to run in the repeat election. But later the Interfax reported quoting the court's chairman that it would be up to the Central Election Commission to decide whether to allow Jioyeva to run or not.
When asked by the same news agency whether he would run in the repeat election, Anatoly Bibilov, whose candidacy was openly backed by the Kremlin, responded: “It is up to the [ruling Unity] party and the election campaign team to decide.”
Meanwhile, the breakaway region’s parliament was summoned to set a date of the repeat election.